Good, honest review. I have differing opinions and results, but that is what makes people different. Let's discuss some of your issues:
#3 windshield wipers rocking the car!!! Mine does not do this, so perhaps you should yell at the dealer. That implies one large amount of torque produced by the wiper motor!!
#2 may be the quality of the roads, but then, you have driven these roads before so would know better. Where I drive/commute in Southern California, I find that the road noise is less in this car than in some other, more pretentious cars that I have owned. Even at the higher tire pressures that I run. But, only you know your roads and what is 'loud'.
#4 for me is a non-happening...even on the rare run to 75 in merging/passing, the car seems steady to me. One thing may be poor tire balance, alignment, or some combination.
#5, 6. and 7 would have or should have been noted on the first test drive; this is after all, a sub compact hybrid economy car, not an Acura or Lexus....
C&Ds opinions on any car not capable of 200+MPH are well noted....they did not particularly like 2 of my 3 Porsches either
Questions:
Have you addressed any of these issues to the dealer? Perhaps you need an alignment? What tire pressures are you using? I am using 40lbs, but others use less. Most are running a higher pressure than the 'factory' 33lbs. For me, the higher pressure reduced some of the sponginess of the handling. Again, only you can guage whether that will help.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do...
